Martin Clunes Mallorcan paella

Igniting fond memories of happy childhood holidays for Martin, my take on a Mallorcan paella brimming with beautiful seafood is a real flavour extravaganza. Use a mixture of whatever lovely seasonal shellfish you can get your hands on.

Ingredients

• 6 large raw shell-on tiger prawns , from sustainable sources
• 1 pinch of saffron
• 1.2 litres quality organic chicken stock
• 3 free-range chicken thighs , skin off, bone out
• 300 g higher-welfare pork neck fillet
• 1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika
• olive oil
• 1 red onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2 sticks of celery
• 6 crayfish , from sustainable sources
• 6 ripe tomatoes
• 400 g paella rice
• 1 bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley , (30g)
• 200 g squid , gutted, cleaned, from sustainable sources
• 200 g mussels , scrubbed, debearded, from sustainable sources
• 200 g jarred artichokes
• 150 g mangetout
• extra virgin olive oil
• 2-3 lemons

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5.
2. Peel the prawns, leaving the tails on, then put in the fridge. Place the heads and shells in a pan with the saffron, pour over the stock, then simmer over a low heat to infuse.
3. Dice the chicken and pork into 3cm chunks, then toss with the paprika and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
4. Place a large ovenproof frying or paella pan on a medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the meat and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden, stirring occasionally, while you peel and finely chop the onion, garlic and celery.
5. Remove the meat to a plate and stir the chopped veg into the fat in the pan. Cook for 10 minutes, or until softened, then return the meat to the mix.
6. At the same time, quickly drop the crayfish into the stock to cook for 4 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon, halve lengthways and place in a large bowl.
7. Cut a cross into the bottom of each tomato, plunge them into the stock for 40 seconds, then carefully peel, deseed and roughly chop.
8. Stir the paella rice into the meat pan to toast for a few minutes, then ladle in 1 litre of stock through a sieve. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced and the rice is nearly cooked, stirring occasionally.
9. Meanwhile, pick and finely chop the parsley. Run the tip of a knife down the back of each prawn and pull out the vein, meaning they’ll butterfly as they cook.
10. Slice the tentacles from the squid, keeping them whole, then open out the tubes and lightly score in a criss-cross fashion with a regular eating knife.
11. Place the prawns, squid and mussels in the crayfish bowl with the drained artichokes, most of the parsley and the mangetout (roughly slice, if you like), then dress with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
12. Poke and scatter the contents of the bowl into the rice, then place uncovered in the oven for 10 minutes, or until beautifully cooked. Scatter over the remaining parsley leaves and serve with lots of lemon wedges for squeezing over.